{"id":2276,"date":"2021-12-02T13:59:56","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T18:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.ideate.cmu.edu\/16-375\/f2021\/work\/?p=2276"},"modified":"2021-12-02T15:08:54","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T20:08:54","slug":"the-magical-canvas-final-rfcp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.ideate.cmu.edu\/16-375\/f2021\/work\/2021\/12\/02\/the-magical-canvas-final-rfcp\/","title":{"rendered":"The Magical Canvas Final (RfCP)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ankita Bhanjois (abhanjoi) & Sunjana Kulkarni (sunjanak)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Concept<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When we had first drafted what we wanted to accomplish with our “Magical Canvas,” we knew we wanted to invoke that idea of time passing and progressing. The idea behind our project was to demonstrate the passing of time and how change is inevitable. So, we took the idea of a blank canvas where there was a barren surface and we transformed it into a beautiful idealistic landscape. And from the perspective of the audience, that is exactly what we wanted to show: a blank piece of acrylic becoming a Claude Monet inspired landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reflection<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How does our project fall inline with the courses themes? We were able to use robotic movement and mechanisms to create an art piece, one that was animated in a surprising manner. By using conveyor belts, pulleys, and magnets, we were able to facilitate the motion of pop-up mechanisms to create a landscape mimicking one of Monet paintings. Using the autonomous behavior helps enhance the narrative medium especially for our project, because if we use an opaque piece of acrylic, the audience doesn’t know that there is a mechanism under the acrylic layer. Thus, the pieces of fabric seem to slide by “magic”, coming together to create a landscape. There is always this misconception that robotics are just for the practical and technical uses, but this project and all the other RfCP projects prove that autonomous behavior and robotic movement can create artwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outcome<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Creating our final project was a journey of trial and error. In regards to the soft material manipulation, there were lots of adjustments made along the way. We had initially started with a more busy design with more pop-up elements but noticed that with what could be accomplished with our fabric ribbons, that would not be as feasible. There were many prototypes that went into coming up with the fabric ribbons and how they would be structured. Initially, paper was not meant to be used in our design at all but it proved to be an interesting medium to work with alongside the fabric, especially because it added more spring to the fabric’s free structure. We discovered that if we were to create pleats in the fabric to fold up the pop-up paper elements then it would be easier to unfold as the magnet dragged the fabric. We also learned that with the paper’s springiness it would be hard to keep the pleats on the side of the suitcase before being unravelled, so we used sewing pins to fasten the fabric and as the fabric unravelled the pins would detach. Working with the paper and the fabric taught us a lot about mixed media and how they affect one another. It was unexpected seeing how the construction paper completely changed the movement effect of the fabric and it was a challenge to work with. However, with the various prototypes, we were able to come up with a working design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as fabricating the model, even that process required some trial and error to see which model design would be most appropriate. We started out by building a model which consisted of one base horizontal panel and two upright vertical panels, with one stepper motor attached to each vertical panel and a belt between the two. We realized that this wasn’t scalable because of two things. One, using two stepper motors where one was the “idler pulley” and the other actually had its motor powered was a waste of a stepper. Two, the two panels wouldn’t be that supportive, and having one panel connect the stepper and the idler pulley would be better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the two “panels” for the stepper motors<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next, we built a model which consisted of a stepper and an idler pulley, with one panel connecting the two and a belt with a coupler moving between them. While the belt was functional, we discovered the panels needed to be taller in order to account for the heights of the other coupler pieces, which were larger than the one we were using, and would have to have the magnets glued on top. We also realized we needed to build a model with walls so that the panels would be better supported, and we needed to organize the panels so that there would be enough room for 4 motors, but the whole model would fit in the small space of the suitcase. This required a lot of measurement and planning with paper drawings before using Fusion360 to create the actual model and laser cutting and assembling the model. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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